Ramesh Nair, COO – Business & National Director, JLL India
With Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) remarkable show in Maharashtra, the state is likely to fuel a fresh lease of life in its infrastructure projects across all sectors. The projects which are being monitored by the state government are likely to get accelerated with the BJP government set to assume power in Maharashtra.
With BJP controlling the two biggest markets in India – Mumbai and Gurgaon, the government has to focus on 3 I’s – infrastructure, interest and income. We have seen the Central Government take a keen interest in the real estate sector. It is evident that the government has understood that enhancement in real estate can act as an impetus for growth across various sectors, and therefore, give a boost to the entire economic condition of the country. The BJP led Maharashtra State government can be seen drawing lines along the same goal.
With several infrastructure and real estate initiatives mentioned by BJP in its manifesto and with the intent to facilitate projects worth INR 11 lakh crore, the major infrastructure projects in Maharashtra are likely to get a push in the coming days.
The BJP led state government plans to have a business district like BKC in all the municipalities within MMR. With a business district in each one of the seven municipalities within MMR, namely, Greater Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivali, Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayandar, Bhiwandi-Nizampur and Ulhasnagar, the state will receive quite a few Peripheral Business Districts (PBD) in MMR and enable the denizens to get jobs closer to their homes.
The elevated railway, water transport, metro and monorail projects envisaged long back will again be in the spotlight as it will enhance connectivity in all micro-markets of Mumbai. The Thane-Navi Mumbai market will witness extremely accelerated growth if the feasibility studies favours the setting up of an airport in the Kalyan-Ambernath belt and a secondary airport at Pune.
As far as water transport is concerned, Mumbai will be an important hub for the water transport initiative along the Konkan coast. This will benefit CBD and SBD North, as Juhu and Girgaon are the prospective areas from where Mumbai will be connected.
With the state governments’ proposal to establish 10 smart cities in Maharashtra, the commercial capital of India will definitely benefit from this development. However, Mumbai might be a net loser as quite a few businesses will choose to set their base in these upcoming smart cities.
Make in Maharashtra, an offshoot of the Make in India initiative by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be a major game changer for the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and the manufacturing hub of Pune. Mumbai will be the logical choice for almost all the MNC companies for establishing front offices to complement any investment in Maharashtra.
The IT industry will be promoted in a big way to attract business parks and IT jobs into the state to compete with destinations like Bangalore and Hyderabad. IT Industry Area Development Authority will be established to promote IT sector in Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad and Kolhapur. However, Mumbai may lose out as the focus will be more on Tier II cities.
Governments’ move to digitise public and land documents such as 7/12 forms and provide their online availability will not only improve transparency but also enhance quick approvals and land transactions.
Governments’ move to digitise public and land documents such as 7/12 forms and provide their online availability will not only improve transparency but also enhance quick approvals and land transactions.
The Government plans to widen Mumbai-Goa Highway to a 4-lane highway and the area surrounding the Mumbai-Pune Expressway will be taken up for development, which will have positive impact on Navi Mumbai as it is the micro-market in the vicinity.
The Governments’ initiative to install CCTVs at Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad and Nagpur will not only increase the security but also present a favourable image of Maharashtra, especially to the MNC clients. Apart from this, several other initiatives such as fast broadband for the entire state and IT hardware production, mobile app and gaming development industry, cyber security industry, fabrication (chip) hardware hub to be promoted. These industries will give a fillip to the real estate demand.